


An Entire Galaxy, And I Chose You

by Stacysmash



Series: Random Rare Pairs [29]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Depression, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, M/M, No Smut, Science Fiction, Sexual Themes, coarse language, spaceship au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 16:24:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16329485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stacysmash/pseuds/Stacysmash
Summary: This is the story of how Narita chose to leave an average life for a crazy one on board a ship with a rowdy crew that makes stops at various planets surrounding Earth. Through mundane tasks and outrageous prank wars, Narita builds strong friendships and to his surprise, love. But when his own anxieties build up and threaten all of his relationships, it may take a drastic action to shake him out of his own head.





	An Entire Galaxy, And I Chose You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gilrael](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilrael/gifts).



> Thank you for requesting Gilrael!!

Narita had spent most of his youth on Earth, where he lived a quiet, peaceful existence with his family. Because of his easy-going nature, he was always able to make friends and excelled at both school and work once he graduated. But after a while, he felt an insatiable desire to do something extraordinary, possibly even insane. His parents begged him to reconsider, to remain in a safe and predictable life at a desk job on their home planet, but Narita was determined for once in his life to do something unpredictable.

He signed onto the Karasuno, a run-of-the-mill merchant ship that made regular round trips between Earth and several colonies on Venus, Mars, and Jupiter and their individual moons. There were colonies spread out over the furthest planets as well, but the humans who dwelled there tended to be a bit on the rough side and never had much to offer for trade.

Narita experienced a rude awakening when he joined the crew of the Karasuno. What he thought was a regular merchant ship was a barely functioning ship that threatened to burst in the vacuum of space from the chaotic energy of the crewmembers brawling inside. The captain, Sawamura Daichi, was a good man and reliable as their leader, but his anger could escalate to terrifying proportions whenever the crew got out of hand. His second-in-command, Sugawara Koushi, did what he could to subtly instigate most of the chaos for his own entertainment, pasting on an innocent smile whenever anyone looked his way.

As a merchant ship, they did require weapons and ammunition to be stored on the ship as well, and the head of the armory was Azumane Asahi. Set a torpedo gun on his shoulder and any renegade in the galaxy would wet his pants at the intimidating sight. He wasn’t just an expert shot, either; he was skilled at most forms of martial arts and spent much of his time on the Karasuno in the workout room, keeping his body fit and healthy. As long as none of their enemies knew of Asahi’s frequent anxieties, the Karasuno could handle pretty much any situation with him on board.

The rest of the crew filled in a variety of roles, but there were two crewmembers Narita found himself drawn to immediately. Ennoshita and Kinoshita quickly became his best friends, finding solace in each other’s company when they needed a little peace or to laugh about the crazy antics of their other crewmates. It was through their friendship in particular that Narita finally felt like he belonged there.

After a year of being on the ship, the dynamic between the three began to change.  Ennoshita was taking on more of a leadership role as Daichi relied on him to keep Tanaka and Nishinoya in line. Narita and Kinoshita could see flickers of uncertainty in Ennoshita’s eyes when he was suddenly given important responsibilities, and they gladly took it upon themselves to support their friend and boost his confidence, sometimes with a little playful teasing.

With Ennoshita away most of the time, the bond between Narita and Kinoshita deepened even further. It helped that their duties were directly tied with one another, Narita handling most of the internal engineering of the ship and Kinoshita dealing with everything on the outside. Every day they found new ways of entertaining each other through their mundane duties, occasionally throwing in a prank or two.

One day Narita was minding his own business, doing a maintenance check in the decompression chamber when Kinoshita popped up in the small circular window of the hatch. Narita screamed and fell back, landing hard on his ass. He couldn’t hear Kinoshita’s laughter since he was outside of the ship and in his space suit, but he could just barely see his eyes squeezed shut and his mouth open wide with unheard chortles. Narita was a nice boy, from a nice family that never really gave any thought to revenge. After being subjected to a friendship with a little shit like Kinoshita, however, he tossed out his nice guy rulebook and retaliated with full force.

Back and forth they picked on each other, sometimes in small ways and other times fooling the other through a complicated web of deception. Such a battle of guts would have deteriorated the friendship of any normal people. Instead, it filled Narita’s days with shivers of anticipation and bouts of laughter that ached in his ribs. It wove their bond even tighter, and soon it was apparent to Narita that his attachment to Kinoshita had long since passed the line of friendship.

He found himself consistently staring at the back of his head, craving to run his hands through his light brown hair to see if it was as soft as it looked. It didn’t help that Kinoshita was a physically affectionate guy, often ruffling the hair of their younger crewmates or slapping Tanaka’s back when he did a good job. With Narita, his arm was usually slung over his shoulder where he could yank him closer to whisper in his ear. Narita’s reactions were consistent; a gulp, heated face, and a wave of goosebumps fluttering across his skin. He tried his best to conceal his attraction, terrified of ruining the first thing that brought some zest to his life.

One day Narita was doing maintenance on some piping in a utility closet. It was a tight fit for him and sweat began dripping down his face and dampening his grease-stained T-shirt. He screwed up his face and grunted as he tightened a coupling joining two separate pipes. Once it wasn’t budging any further, Narita stepped back and lifted the bottom of his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face. It was then that he registered someone else’s presence hovering in the open doorway.

Kinoshita said nothing as he blinked owlishly at him, his cheeks reddening while his eyes raked over every inch of Narita.

“Hey, you alright?”

“God, I’m horny.”

“Did… did you just say you’re horny?”

“Oh, yeah,” Kinoshita said, his head bobbing listlessly to emphasize the fact.

“Um, maybe you should take a break in the bunk room, or the bathroom perhaps?”

“No, you don’t get it. I’m not _general_ horny, I’m _Narita_ horny,” Kinoshita said, gesturing toward Narita so he wouldn’t misunderstand. Narita was so shocked his wrench slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor with a loud clatter, which he hardly heard over the sound of his hammering heart. Without waiting for an answer, Kinoshita stepped forward into the tight space, slipping his hands under Narita’s T-shirt and grazing his fingers up his back. Narita gasped at the contact, wondering if he’d lost himself in one of his many fantasies. Kinoshita cocked his head and licked his lips as he eased his face up toward Narita’s.

“Can we?”

“Uh-huh,” Narita answered before shoving his lips onto Kinoshita’s.

Whenever he looked back on the moment they finally got together, Narita always regretted not saying something cooler. It hardly mattered to them at the time as they tore their clothes off and finally touched each other the way they both had been craving. It wasn’t the most romantic setting for their first sexual encounter together, but it did spark a new game between them to see how many places they could have sex on the ship without getting caught.

From then on, Narita was happier than he’d ever been in his life. For several months, they hid their relationship from the rest of the crew and spent their rare moments alone in peace… or doing dirty deeds. When they had been just friends, Narita couldn’t have imagined that their relationship could get any better, but he was happy to be wrong. But after a while, some old anxieties of Narita’s began creeping into his mind.

He was painfully aware of how average he was in looks and abilities, and he often wondered what Kinoshita even saw in him. It was difficult when they were surrounded by such a dynamic and talented crew. He would catch a glimpse of Asahi with his shirt off, which was a sight that could make anyone’s heart stop, and he despised the fact that his own muscles were leaner, giving him a pathetically thin look rather than an impressively bulked-up one. Other times he would see Kinoshita laughing and teasing Tanaka about some ridiculous thing he’d done, and slowly the cold fingers of jealousy gripped into his heart.

There was no doubt in his mind that Kinoshita would always be faithful to him; that wasn’t the issue. He was certain that he didn’t deserve to be at Kinoshita’s side. The more he acknowledged the whispers in his mind telling him he wasn’t good enough, the further he slipped into a reclusive state. He started haunting the narrow corridors of the ship, gradually avoiding both Kinoshita and the other crew members and focused only on doing his work to the best of his abilities. Even while he felt undeserving to be there, it would break his heart if Daichi kicked him off the ship for slacking off in his work.

One day he had found himself without anything left to do and resorted to the menial task of taking inventory of spare parts in a small corner of the docking bay. It was a relief to fill his brain with repetition and numbers; anything to keep him from thinking about the widening chasm between him and Kinoshita. He knew in the back of his mind that separating himself from his boyfriend was only making the problem worse, but he still couldn’t bring himself to confront Kinoshita with the issue. And since Kinoshita hadn’t confronted him either, it made him wonder if he had realized that he was better off without Narita.

It was strange working in the docking bay with no one else around. It felt unnatural for such a large space to be so quiet, especially with the number of boisterous crew members the Karasuno had. The silence pressed down on him like a heavy weight, filling him with an even greater sense of loneliness that no number of mundane tasks could mask. It was getting difficult to breathe with the ache spreading in his chest. He felt himself nearing a breaking point, hot tears welling up behind his eyelids as he forced himself to keep working.

He reached across the table to grab a handful of nuts and bolts to count them, but a couple slipped out of his hands and clattered to the floor. Clicking his tongue, he turned around to pick them up and froze when he saw Kinoshita standing behind him with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His hard expression was like a sledgehammer crushing into Narita’s chest, and he felt certain that he was there to finally put an end to their relationship.

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Just a little bit. Took me forever to find you, I never thought I’d find you hiding here.”

“I’m not hiding,” Narita lied, and Kinoshita obviously knew it when he narrowed his eyes. He said nothing for a few moments, observing Narita closely until his face finally softened. His arms fell loose at his sides as he walked forward, not stopping until he was standing right in front of Narita. He seemed to be hesitating, and Narita felt like he was going to cry at any given moment before his boyfriend even spoke.

To his astonishment, Kinoshita reached up and stroked the side of his face tenderly. Narita exhaled and leaned into the touch; he hadn’t even realized how starving he was for it. The simple action seemed to break the tension between them, and Kinoshita smiled warmly.

“Hey, I could use your help with something.”

“With what?”

“Daichi-san wants me to inspect a section of the hull, the computer is saying a panel might be coming loose. I’ll need multiple tools to do the job, but it’s hard keeping track of them all in zero gravity. Wanna be my tool belt?”

“You… want me to go outside?”

“Yeah.”

“In space?”

Kinoshita laughed and gripped his hand around the back of Narita’s neck to yank him down.

“Yes, in space, Dumbass. Come on, you can’t visit your folks next month without drifting around in a spacesuit tethered to the ship by a single cord at least once, right?”

He didn’t wait for Narita to answer as he pecked a quick kiss against his lips, grabbed his hand, and pulled him away from his work table, which was good because Narita’s tongue had gone numb with a sudden bout of nervousness. He never worried about Kinoshita’s safety because he was a professional, specially trained to work outside the ship. There were a million things that could go wrong if _he_ was to go out there, and his mind spun through every scenario that would certainly end in his death.

“Stop freaking out, your hand is all sweaty,” Kinoshita laughed as he pulled him into the prep area. He paused beside the row of spacesuits hung on the wall and cradled Narita’s face in his hands. “You’ll be out there with me, alright? I’ve got you.”

Narita felt almost dizzy as relief swept over him, shoving the multitudes of anxieties he’d been hoarding out of his mind. He smiled and nodded, allowing Kinoshita to help him slip into a suit. They were made a lot slimmer than they used to be, allowing for more freedom of movement. He had some basic training on the different mechanisms of the suit before joining the ship, but that had been nearly two years ago. Thankfully Kinoshita gave him a quick recap before they ventured through the hatch with several tools attached to their utility belts.

With his helmet securely fastened in place, it took several breaths to get used to the oxygen intake. It didn’t help that his heart was slamming against his chest and his body was demanding more air than he usually needed. Before he felt mentally ready, Kinoshita had already set the controls to adjust the pressure in the room, so they could exit the ship safely. He turned around and winced at the expression on Narita’s face. He reached out and rubbed his gloved hands slowly over Narita’s arms in an attempt to calm him down. It helped a little, but Narita wished he could have felt Kinoshita’s hands directly on his skin. He would have given anything to touch him more.

The hatch retracted suddenly, and Narita let out a yelp of surprise. Kinoshita chuckled over the comm located in their helmets, and after checking that their cords were secure he pulled Narita toward the opening. Narita practiced basic breathing exercises as he slipped out, refusing to look beyond at anything beyond the ship itself.

“Don’t freak out!” Kinoshita laughed as he drifted easily over the hull of the ship, barely even needing to set off his boosters.

“I-I’m not. It just takes some getting used to.”

Narita focused on his breathing and keeping hold of the ship even though he had the tether. He didn’t want to think about the sheer vastness of space surrounding him; it was almost too much for his brain to comprehend. He could feel sweat forming between his skin and the suit and couldn’t believe he had agreed to help Kinoshita without hardly any preparation.

Narita lifted his face to watch Kinoshita veer around the ship like a bird careening over the surface of a glassy lake. It was graceful and rehearsed, every movement of his body shifting him through the void as if he belonged there. He arched his back suddenly and spun around until he was facing Narita, reaching his hand out and curling his fingers toward himself.

“Come on, Baby. Show me what you got,” Kinoshita’s voice teased through the comm. The challenge was just as motivating as it was sensual, and Narita no longer hesitated to chase after his boyfriend with a smirk forming on his lips.

“You asked for it,” He retorted, a shiver of delight careening through his muscles when Kinoshita laughed through the speaker. He knew he looked ridiculous, trying to use the boosters and attempting to _not_ flail around like a duck on roller skates. But he was determined to catch up to Kinoshita and find some way to tease him back.

By the time he finally reached him, Kinoshita was already working on the loose panel. He glanced up and had the audacity to wink before tightening a fresh bolt into the metal. Narita scrunched up his face, feeling uncharacteristically petulant that his boyfriend had gone straight to work instead of playing with him a little more. Kinoshita seemed to know exactly how he was feeling as he asked for a tool with the most seductive voice he could muster. Narita rolled his eyes and removed the pliers from his belt. Before handing it over, he held it up and stroked his fingers up and down the handle.

“Is this what you’re looking for?” He snorted as Kinoshita’s face flared bright red from inside his helmet, and he snatched the pliers out of his hands.

“Can you hold off seducing me until we’re out of these constricting spacesuits? They’re not very forgiving in the crotch.”

“Sorry, I’ll tone down my powers of seduction until we get back inside.”

“Good,” Kinoshita answered, screwing up his face as he twisted the pliers around. “Hey, listen… I love you, okay?”

Narita gasped, not expecting those powerful words to be spoken, especially through the comm while Kinoshita wasn’t even looking at him. His brain was screaming to return the words he felt so deeply, but his mouth wasn’t cooperating through the shock. He barely registered taking back the pliers when Kinoshita held them out while he did a final inspection on the panel.

“Looks good. Now, let’s have some fun, shall we?”

Narita blinked as Kinoshita shoved off from the hull and held his hand out, a wide grin visible in his helmet. Narita smiled back and kicked off himself, stretching his arm out to slide his fingers into Kinoshita’s. It didn’t even occur to him that he had just left the safety of the ship, held on by a mere cord. It didn’t matter; Kinoshita had him.

With a giggle, Kinoshita set off his boosters and yanked Narita into his arms. He yelped and wrapped his arms tight around Kinoshita’s waist, burying the front of his helmet into his chest and wishing he could feel the warmth of his body on his face.

“Open your eyes idiot!” Kinoshita laughed and he instantly obeyed, cracking an eye open and peeking beyond the strong arm holding him. He gasped, astounded by the vast inky blackness beyond speckled with light that seemed delicate from the immeasurable distance. Kinoshita loosened his hold and gripped onto his hand, encouraging him to stretch out as if they were flying. Narita licked his lips and gazed down at the ship underneath them, seeing his blurry reflection in the metal beneath them.

“Here, you ready?”

“Ready for what?!”

He received no answer, but Kinoshita tugged his arm up as they drifted above the top of the ship. Since he had been dwelling in his reclusive state, he hadn’t been paying attention to where their ship was currently located. He received the answer smack in the face as he drifted aimlessly, unable to speak at the beautiful sight.

Jupiter, for some reason, had always been his favorite planet and there it was, stripes of swirling browns and blues across the massive sphere. His brain couldn’t even comprehend how huge it was, and just staring at it made him feel as small as a speck and yet like a god at the same time. It felt like he could just stretch out his hand and dip it into its surface and churn the colors around with his fingers. A tear slipped out of the corner of his eye and a squeeze on his hand told him that he wasn’t alone.

“How many people in the universe get a chance like this, Narita?”

“Hardly any,” He whispered, surprised the words were coming from his own mouth.

“Makes you pretty damn special then, huh? Narita Kazuhito, the man who stared a planet in the face… and cried.”

The spell was broken, and Narita laughed as he jabbed his fist into his side, which considering they were in zero gravity was more like a gentle nudge.

“I didn’t cry, you ass-hat.”

“Really? What’s that leaking out of your eye then, Baby?”

“I’ll make _you_ cry,” Narita threatened, turning away from the awe-inspiring sight in front of him and filling his vision with nothing but Kinoshita. He reached his hands out to grab hold of his spacesuit, but Kinoshita was quicker and snatched his hands in his own. His boosters went off and they were once again flying. Not flying, exactly, the way Kinoshita laughed and twisted their bodies around together as they glided around the hull and back toward the hatch. It was more like dancing, and Kinoshita was leading him around the dance floor of vacant space like an expert. He was safe, he was happy, and their laughter blended together like harmonized music in his helmet.

They finally arrived back at the hatch, and Narita groaned like a child being forced to bed. Kinoshita cackled and dragged him through the opening and back into the safety of the ship. Once it was shut and the chamber depressurized, they helped each other with the fastenings of their suits. It felt almost domestic with its intimacy, having Kinoshita’s hands on his helmet and twisting it off so he could lean up and brush their lips together. He pulled back too quickly for Narita’s taste and he nearly whined in response, but the flicker of pain across Kinoshita’s face gripped his entire body as if he was frozen.

“Thanks for helping me. I’m sure you guessed that I didn’t need your help, I just… I wanted one last chance to be with you before you left me. For our problems to disappear even for a moment, so I could see you laugh and hold your hand. God, that sounds cheesy, but I didn’t want everything to just end as it was.” Kinoshita’s voice broke at the end, his eyes focused in the corner of the room as his breath shuddered through his lungs. Narita shoved the top half of his suit down, freeing his hands so he could nestle them on either side of Kinoshita’s face, tilting it up toward his own.

“I’m so sorry. I’m not leaving you, I promise. I don’t even know how it started, but I was feeling so mediocre and boring and then my worries kept building until that was all I could see. I felt like you deserve someone better than me, so I was expecting you to leave me but even then, I would never leave you. I love you too much.”

“Ugh, you idiot!” Kinoshita growled, jabbing his fist into Narita’s ribs. “What the hell is all this nonsense? Do you think I would fall in love with just anybody? Do you know how shitty I felt this whole time with you avoiding me without knowing why you were doing it?”

“I’m sorry!”

“You better be! If you don’t fuck me right now in this depressurizing chamber I’m going to tell everyone you cried looking at a planet we’ve seen a million times.”

“It’s different when you’re outside the ship! You really piss me off sometimes,” Narita huffed as he forcefully tugged the rest of Kinoshita’s spacesuit down to his ankles. Kinoshita grabbed onto his shoulders and lightly hopped out of it, ending up in just a T-shirt and boxers. Narita still had his own suit hanging from his waist, but it didn’t stop him from grabbing the back of Kinoshita’s thighs, lifting him up and shoving him against the wall.

Anger, relief, and desperation all emerged through their messy kisses and frantic hands. Narita pressed his body into Kinoshita’s as his lips traveled down to his neck. Fingers dug into his back and scraped across it, giving him just enough pain to send his libido out of control. He shivered and breathed heavily against Kinoshita’s throat, releasing his lips from his hot skin for just a moment.

“Do you forgive me?”

“Yes, of course. Just don’t pull that shit again.”

“Promise,” He whispered, closing his eyes as he buried his head into the crook of Kinoshita’s neck. The speaker in the chamber flickered on with a bit of feedback and static, an irritated cough following it.

“ _If our frisky engineers are finished with their duties, you can feel free to take a break in the bunk room where I’d prefer you to do your nasty business. Or you can remain in there where the entire crew can watch you on the security feed since Suga was good enough to inform everyone_ —”

“ _Kageyama was the one who spotted them! I was just letting everyone know not to go in there_!”

“ _Anyways, you two bums have been warned_.”

The speaker cut out, and Kinoshita snorted into Narita’s shoulder.

“Whoops, looks like we weren’t careful enough. There goes our fun game.”

Narita chuckled and nuzzled his face into Kinoshita’s thick brown hair, planting a kiss into it.

“I’m sure we’ll come up with something new. Come on, we just got permission from the Captain himself to get freaky in the bunk room.”

“Holy shit, you’re right!” Kinoshita shouted as he released his legs from Narita’s waist and dropped to the floor. Still partially wearing his spacesuit, Narita was yanked out of the chamber by Kinoshita, who paused briefly to flip the bird at the security camera. Their laughter echoed throughout the narrow corridors as they raced to the bunkroom, hoping to beat their crewmates and lock the door behind them. His boots may have weighed a ton, but Narita felt like he was still in zero gravity with how light his soul had become. Kinoshita Hisashi chose to love _him_ , and in his opinion that made him cooler than anyone else in the universe.

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank the Mass Effect 3 soundtrack and an adorable scene from Wall-E to help provide a lot of inspiration for this piece. I hope you enjoyed it!!


End file.
